The Boxborough Police and Fire Departments look after the City of Boxborough, a small town of about 5,000 people in Massachusetts, USA. They provide 24/7 police and fire coverage with the Police Force providing 13 full-time officers, and the Fire Department 29 firefighters.

The greatest motivation for physiological monitoring technology is to prevent occupational loss of life. Tait has integrated physiological monitoring into our critical communications solutions, where firefighters and other workers in dangerous environments can be monitored.

But rather than talk about physiological monitoring as part of a critical communications solution, we have been taking it out into the field. Two of our in-field tests were firefighter stair climbs, simulating real life activity – well, minus the actual burning building!
Sky Tower Stair Challenge, Auckland, New ZealandContinue Reading

On 23 May 2015, undeterred by driving rain and chilling Auckland temperatures, a team of Tait Tough employees showcased their support for fire services and Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBC) at the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge.

Now in its 11th year, the Stair Challenge invites firefighters from around the world to raise funds and awareness for LBC by racing up 51 floors (all 1,103 steps) of the Sky Tower wearing full firefighting kit weighing 25kg.

LBC is New Zealand’s national charity dedicated to supporting patients and their families living with blood cancers like leukaemia and related blood conditions.
Watch the overview video from the event

It doesn’t always take a lot of money to make a big difference in your fire departments communications efficiency. Here are some simple ways to maximize the investment you are already committed to, without breaking the bank.
1) Add some colorAn easy way to improve the safety of firefighters is to use high visibility, colored radios that are available from leading P25 digital radio manufacturers.

Brightly colored radios are more visible in dark or smoky conditions. If a hi-visibility green radio is dropped, it can be much more quickly seen and... Continue Reading

On Sunday, September 7, more than 150 firefighters from Australia and New Zealand took part in the inaugural Melbourne Firefighters Stair Climb, which saw career and volunteer firefighters climb 28 flights of stairs to the top of Crown Metropol hotel in full firefighting kit weighing 25kg.

Inspired by competing in the Auckland Sky Tower Stair Challenge, a Melbourne-based team went about organizing their very own firefighter-exclusive stair challenge and the Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb was born. The event simulates the actions of a firefighter... Continue Reading

If you’re involved in managing incidents and emergencies, you’ll know all too well the plethora of things you have to remember to do every time, at every event.

To assist you in managing these incidents, the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC), in association with Tait, has developed a valuable support app that covers all Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System (AIIMS-4) roles and their functions, and delivers a... Continue Reading

We feel proud and fortunate to be able to support and work alongside so many inspirational individuals, groups and organizations who are also dedicated to ensuring safer and more resilient communities. We share the devotion to this cause and are proud of the supporting role we play in providing critical communications and services that help the people who keep each of us, our friends, our families and properties safe.

The mission set for us by our founder Sir Angus Tait is to ‘build lasting benefits for our clients and the communities in which we operate’. While... Continue Reading

We’ve talked about the dangers of getting locked into the wrong P25 solution before. And yet, we still hear about people getting tangled in the proprietary web some vendors weave.

Genuine open standards are non-proprietary, so you are never under the control of one vendor. Choosing open standards will increase your choice of certified vendors and bring down prices, improve technical quality, and avoid the risk of being locked into a sole supplier. Continue Reading

The radios have already been put to the test! Watch this video and see how a TP9435 performed after being accidentally dropped into the path of a local controlled burn! EL Campbell, Tait Project Coordinator for Public Safety, was on-site with Daniel Cole, Emergency Management Director for Panola County, and Ottis Anderson from Anderson Communications, after the incident and captured the results! Continue Reading